ETS linking: a new link in Europe’s climate action

The document discusses the conclusion of negotiations to link the EU ETS and the Swiss ETS, warning that the lack of transparency regarding the agreement's terms makes it unclear if the EU's 2030 domestic emission reduction targets will be undermined. It argues that linking could allow foreign allowances to enter the EU market, potentially contradicting the goal of achieving a 40% reduction through domestic means. The author outlines several conditions the agreement should meet to be acceptable, including the exclusion of international offsets from 2021 and the application of the Market Stability Reserve to the Swiss scheme.

• The linking agreement between the EU and Switzerland marks the first time the EU ETS has been linked to another carbon market. While the Swiss ETS is small enough that the link will not significantly affect EU ETS functioning, it establishes a precedent for future links with larger markets.
• There is a risk that linking the EU ETS to foreign systems could undermine the EU's goal of achieving at least 40% emission reductions domestically by 2030 by allowing foreign allowances and credits to enter the market.
• The negotiations for the linking agreement lacked transparency, as there was no public access to the negotiation mandate or the final agreement, with most available information coming only from Swiss government press releases.
• The author proposes several criteria for the link to be acceptable, including that the Swiss ETS must exclude international offsets from 2021, the Market Stability Reserve must apply to the Swiss scheme, and the link should lead to reduced free allocation of allowances due to lower carbon leakage risks.

APA

de Jong, F. (2016). ETS linking: a new link in Europe’s climate action. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/02/04/ets-linking-a-new-link-in-europes-climate-action/

Chicago

de Jong, Femke. ETS linking: a new link in Europe’s climate action. Carbon Market Watch, 2016. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/02/04/ets-linking-a-new-link-in-europes-climate-action/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=de Jong |first1=Femke |title=ETS linking: a new link in Europe’s climate action |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=4 February 2016 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/02/04/ets-linking-a-new-link-in-europes-climate-action/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dejong2016ets, author = {de Jong, Femke}, title = {{ETS linking: a new link in Europe’s climate action}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2016}, month = feb, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/02/04/ets-linking-a-new-link-in-europes-climate-action/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }